On the Commons

Today, I happened to come across On the Commons, a very insightful and well-written blog that juxtaposes current environmental issues with related economic concerns. I'd especially recommend the recent article "The harsh economics of green-collar jobs." Also worth reading is a 2005 article titled "The illusory self-made man." An excerpt:

It always irritates me to see the Michael Eisners and Ken Lays and George W. Bushes portray themselves as "self-made men" — Ayn Rand superheroes of the capitalist order. Individual initiative matters in creating wealth, of course, but some of the most critical ingredients are social investments -- schools, colleges, government R&D, small business assistance, the courts, the stock market, regulatory agencies, and much more. These are precisely the factors that the "I did it all myself" storyline denies. Moguls claim all responsibility for their success while denigrating government taxation as a form of theft and social spending as waste. How gratifying, then, to come across a report that tackles the bogus, self-congratulatory myth of the self-made man. "I Didn't Do It Alone: Society's Contribution to Individual Wealth and Success," takes on the "great man theory of wealth creation" by letting more than a dozen entrepreneurs, CEOs and investors confess that their personal talent was only partly responsible, and that it takes a village to make a millionaire.